Kin of 9/11 victims join AMIA demonstration

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Relatives of victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack joined in a demonstration to mark the 16th anniversary of a Buenos Aires Jewish center bombing.

A car bomb in 1994 blew up the AMIA center, killing 85 and wounding hundreds.

Local Jewish organizations and the families of the AMIA victims were joined at last Friday’s demonstration by the families of the victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which allegedly were directed by al-Qaida, as well as Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, a member of the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

AMIA and DAIA, the central Jewish institutions in Buenos Aires, organized the demonstration with the Relatives and Friends of the AMIA Victims organization.

The bombing allegedly was carried out by Hezbollah agents with Iranian sponsorship and organization, but Argentina has not been able to bring anyone to justice for perpetrating the attack.

About 5,000 people attended the event, including Argentina’s vice president, Julio Cobos; its Cabinet chief, Alberto Fernandez; and Minister of Justice Julio Alpacas. Former President Nestor Kirchner also was on hand; his wife, current President Cristina Fernandez, was in China.

Garzon praised a letter sent by President Obama to President Fernandez congratulating Argentina on its fight against terrorism, and the judge urged the U.S. government “to provide a real support to demand the Iranian government’s answer” to the Argentinean request for extradition of the accused Iranian perpetrators.

"We accuse Iran of being behind the death of my brother, of your friends, of your neighbors; a country that denies the Holocaust, and even threatens to erase another country of the world with nuclear weapons, with the consent of Russia and Brazil; a country which shakes hands with Venezuela, which doesn’t show solidarity with our claim,” Marina Degtian, whose 21-year-old brother Cristian was killed in the AMIA blast, told the crowd.